Few Clues in Alleged Pennsylvania Horse Poisonings

Law enforcement authorities continue to be stymied by the alleged poising of nine horses in Pennsylvania.

Last month, Lower Windsor Township Police responded to a 911 call from someone reporting that four horses at the Allimax Farm in York County, Penn., had been poisoned. The caller identified himself as Joseph Meyer, the owner of both the farm and the animals. Lower Windsor Township Police Chief Tim Caldwell said that police responding to the scene discovered the carcasses of the dead animals, but Meyer was absent from the property. Later a man identifying himself as Meyer appeared in a video posted on YouTube; in the video the man claimed that altogether nine of his horses were poisoned at locations in York and Lancaster counties. The man claimed that animal welfare advocates were responsible for the incidents.

Caldwell said that subsequently police personnel along with a humane investigator from the York County SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) executed a search warrant on Meyer's York County property. Investigators took hay and grain samples for testing, however analysis of the samples analysis yielded scant results, Caldwell said.

“Nothing has come to pass," Caldwell said.

The York County SPCA also removed the only horse still alive on the property, Caldwell said.

No one from the York County SPCA was available for comment on the horse's condition.

Caldwell said that Meyer provided by email a timeline of events relative to the horses' deaths, but hasn't been in communication with law enforcement since. Meyer's absence is the most confounding aspects of the case, Caldwell said.

“The big issue at hand is that the person who is making the complaint has left the state,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell said that an attorney has contacted him in connection with the case. Atty. Jeff Conrad was unavailable for comment.

Caldwell said his department will continue to pursue the case to its resolution.

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